Sunday, April 10, 2016

Brand: Lay'sStyle: Southern Biscuits and GravyOrigin: United StatesType: ChipsFlavor: Legit biscuits and gravy! The new and improved flavor is great!Verdict: Approved!

Brand: KettleStyle: Thick + Bold Carolina BBQOrigin: United StatesType: ChipsFlavor: Beanie weenie.Verdict: Unsure...they kind of grow on you, but so does a fungus...

My partner and I recently went on a road trip and of course, road trip = snack time!! No good vacation is complete without some fun new snacks! We made a pit stop at our usual halfway point between Portland and Seattle (Centralia, WA), and found a couple of country-flavored chips. My partner was extremely happy to find that their favorite chips from last summer's Lay's flavor contest had made the cut: Southern Biscuits and Gravy - and to boot, they were now being sold in a small bag! That was a no-brainer for their road snack. I had a bit more difficulty finding something to snack on, but I finally settled on the new Kettle Thick + Bold Carolina BBQ chips. I don't get BBQ too often because I'm kind of picky and it feels a bit, you know...pedestrian for my refined palette, but what the hey, I was on vacation! I should have listened to my gut and gone with something more adventurous, pun somewhat intended, but that's neither here nor there.First - you might recall that I didn't care too much for the Lay's Do Us A Flavor options this past summer. I felt that the flavors I would have liked were wimpy and sad and the others were just not good. The Biscuits and Gravy, in particular, was a let down because it had a lot of potential and fell very, very flat. But you may now dry your tears, snackfriends, because Lay's has kicked it up several notches in the new batch! Just opening the bag smells like fresh biscuits, and each bite offers a peppery punch that makes you feel like you're back at Bob Evans, tossing down a big ol' plate of sausage gravy smothered biscuits. Thank you, Lay's!Unfortunately, the Kettle Carolina BBQ didn't fare so well. At first, well, let's just say "bold" is not the first word that came to my mind. "Bland," "uninspired," and "odd-in-a-bad-way," perhaps, but definitely not "bold." Snackies, do you ever get that feeling where you just know you have a sensory memory tucked waaaay back in one of your brain files, but you just can't quite reach it? That taste or smell is so, so familiar, but it's from so far back that you just can't quite place it? That's exactly what I was feeling as I was munching on these in the car. Finally, I shouted out, "BEANIE WEENIE!" as my partner was in mid-sentence talking about something totally not food-related, which was really rude of me, but that is exactly what these chips taste like! (For those of you who are not from the midwest or the south where beanie weenie is a thing, it's a kids' camp type food where you slice up hot dogs and mix them with canned baked beans.) Perspective is a big thing, so had these chips been marketed as being beanie weenie flavored, I would have been like, "Dang!!! Kettle knows their stuff!! These taste perfect!" However, expecting a mature Carolina BBQ and getting cheap camp food left me sad and disappointed in these. Womp womp.

Contact the Snackmaster

I Eat Snacks

Greetings, Snackies!

I am the Snackmaster, a man obsessed. My lifelong quest is to try each and every flavor of potato chip in existence, to feel the crunch of a cheese puff from every country in the world between my teeth, and to satiate my sweet tooth on the all the chocolate I can get my mouth on, from the darkest of the dark, to the milkiest of the milk, and everything in between.

I invite you to join me on my mission by sharing my findings with you, my fellow snackie. Welcome to the snack revolution!